Lessons Learnt: Serious eye injury to fitter

Vessel Type: TankerIncident description

Whilst the vessel was at anchor waiting to berth, one of the engine room fitters was instructed by the Chief Engineer to fabricate a set of locking pins for the anchor cable stoppers. It was planned that the work would take place in the engine room workshop and involve the use of an angle grinder for which the fitter had the choice of an electrical or pneumatically powered tool. The fitter was provided with and wore appropriate personal protective equipment, including a full face visor. He started the job using an electric angle grinder with a maximum disc size of 180 mm but then switched to using a pneumatic angle grinder with a maximum disc size of 100 mm. He then installed a 160 mm disc to the grinder which required the removal of the safety guard from the tool. During continued use of the grinder, the disc shattered into three pieces, one of which penetrated the fitter's face visor and seriously injured his right eye. First aid was given on board and prompt arrangements made to transfer the casualty ashore for hospitalisation. Analysis

It is not known why the fitter switched from using the electrical grinder, which could have accommodated the 160 mm disc, to using the pneumatic tool. Fitting cutting/grinding discs in excess of the designed size for the tool is a very dangerous practice and increases the risk of disc failure. Furthermore, the removal of tool safety guards in any circumstances exposes the operator to serious injury, either by flying work debris, breakage of the disc and additional exposure of body parts to the high speed rotating disc. The Club's Risk Assessors find that a large proportion of vessels visited have angle grinders in deck and engine room workshops with the safety guards missing. 

Lessons Learnt
  • Ship managers and officers should implement a zero tolerance policy towards the misuse and abuse of powered tools, including the removal of safety guards and devices
  • Power tool manufacturer's instructions for use and safety precautions should be readily available to crew and strictly observed
  • The care, maintenance and checking of portable power tools should be included in the vessel planned maintenance system
  • Crew should be trained in the proper use of power tools and the serious consequences of non-compliance with safety precautions
  • Remember: angle grinders in the wrong hands are lethal weapons!
The UK Club's Loss Prevention team combines practical solutions that address Members' needs and claims experience with research into the wider issues that impact directly on P&I insurance and the Club's exposure to claims. Every year, the UK P&I Club deals with thousands of claims using the expertise and experience of its professional claims handlers, ex-seafarers and lawyers. With five decades of research into loss prevention issues the Club has developed a formidable body of technical material on maritime risks. Each month the Loss Prevention team aim to share some of the Club's claims experience, by looking at real case examples and identifying lessons learnt to help Members avoid similar incidents - you can find past lessons learnt here: https://www.ukpandi.com/loss-prevention/training-advice/lessons-learnt/

Staff Author

UK P&I

Date20/07/2017

Tags

You may also be interested in:

This fully laden bulk carrier was on passage in the Mediterranean Sea during winter. Whilst the seamen were handling the hose on the starboard side, a wave was shipped onto the main deck, sweeping them heavily against the adjacent cargo hold hatch coamings. Both sustained multiple injuries requiring the vessel to deviate to land the seamen ashore for urgent hospital treatment.

This vessel was loading a bulk cargo in two of the vessel's lower holds. During the loading operation, the vessel bunkered 500 MT of HFO into no.'s 2 port and starboard fuel oil side tanks. Shortly after the completion of bunkering operations, the Chief Engineer (C/E) noticed the level of no.2 port fuel oil tank was decreasing from observation of the remote gauging system.

A bulk carrier received instructions to anchor in a designated port anchorage area occupied by other vessels

The vessel was scheduled to call at two West African ports for cargo operations. At the first port of call, all operations took place without any untoward incident. However, shortly after berthing alongside at the second port of call as preparations were underway to commence cargo discharge, the crew found two stowaways who had been hiding inside the deck crane pedestals.